These Things Take Time/Ch 20
Betty had tried not to just sample champagne without eating, but she was nervous and excited and more than a little worked up after her heated rendezvous with Daniel earlier that evening.
She saw Hilda and Christina both laughing and Hilda eating more of the food, and walked over to them, putting her arms around them both, "Hey, ladies! What's so funny?"
Hilda shook her head, "You are!"
"Me? Why? What are you talking about? Oh, no, was I terrible in my speech? Did I suck?"
"No, you were great, honey! Your speech was perfect. Very heartfelt, and funny. Who knew you could be funny on purpose? When you get you out of those sorry, luv, but rather hideous clothes you used to hide yourself in back in New York and put you into something ravishing like a Christina McKinney original!" She twirled Betty around.
Betty giggled, stumbling slightly from the champagne and being dizzy. "Yeah, who knew?"
Hilda glanced at Betty's rear and tapped it lightly, "No panty lines, either! Wow, you really do look sexy in that dress, Betty! I bet Daniel liked it. So much he had to get you out of it, maybe?"
Betty's eyes widened, "What are you talking about?" She leaned forward and whispered, "Did you see us coming out of the pantry?"
Hilda shook her head, laughing, "That's where you did it? The pantry? That's hot, mami! No, I just saw your panties hanging out of his pocket earlier. Bobby told me he gave him a heads up so your boy wouldn't be going around introducing himself to the prime minister with your 'knickers' dangling from his jacket!"
Betty put her hand up to her eyes, and shook her head, "Oh, God! Thank goodness he found them! And I'm so glad Bobby told them."
"Yeah, I guess you were both too flustered to see what was right there in front of your faces."
"I guess so. Look, I'd better…oops, sorry! Daniel! Hi!"
"Hi, Betty. Uh, can we...talk?" He looked embarrassed."
"Go with him, Betty. He just may have something you're missing!" Christina snickered as Hilda shook her head, putting a finger to her lips but stifled a laugh, as well.
"Huh?" Daniel looked confused, but Betty gave both women a dirty look and grabbed Daniel by the hand, pulling him through the crowd to the beautifully-lit patio. She shivered, and Daniel took off his coat, putting it on her shoulders.
"You okay?"
She nodded, then looked in the inside pocket of his jacket to see her panties, and blushed.
"So, you do have something I need, huh, Daniel?"
"Well, yeah, Betty, sure, honey, but we already…" he looked around, "You mean out here? If you really want to, but maybe we could just wait a little while and…"
She laughed, and held open his jacket to point to her underwear, "I meant my…."
"Oh! Right!" He smiled, looking adorably embarrassed. "I must have had them all the time.
When I went to put my jacket back on after you left I was so….uh...distracted, I didn't even notice they were there. I'm really sorry, honey. Are you...doing okay?"
She nodded, trying to calm her racing heart as he looked into her eyes, "Are you sure? Because I'm not. I...can't stop thinking about us, Betty. About you. About how amazing you are. And I can't believe you...you wanted me that much! I've never…."
"Daniel, you can't tell me you never did stuff like that before. You're notorious for it!"
He looked down, guiltily, "Well, okay, yeah. Maybe I have, Betty. A long time ago. But I gotta tell you, usually it was me, starting things, just being an impatient, horny young guy.
But you, taking charge like that, and...and being so sexy, so...full of passion for me just blew me away! I can't stop shaking just thinking about it. I know you said you normally like to...uh...well, take things slow, and I get that. I do, too, believe me.
But you really kind of took my breath away, grabbing me into the pantry like that. I've never felt so much...intensity before. I want you to know how much I...how much I…"
She smiled, pulling him down to her by his tie, leaning her forehead on his, "Love me?"
He nodded, blowing out a shaky breath, "Uh huh. Very much, Betty. I really do love you."
"I know, Daniel. That's why I had to have you, right then. You looked so incredible. Sorry, you LOOK so incredible, and I still can't believe you really do love me."
He pulled her closer by her waist, closing the distance between them as his lips covered hers hungrily,"Well, believe it. By the way, you look pretty damn incredible yourself, hot girl.
With or without those…although, preferably without!"
He started to pull her panties out of his pocket, but she slapped his hand away, "Daniel! Just let me keep your jacket until I use the ladies room, then I'll get it back to you, okay?"
He nodded, holding her face in his hands and kissing her tenderly, then brushing his fingers through her hair, "Betty, God, you smell so good!
I know you probably need to go spend more time with your family tonight, and I've got my first day at work Wednesday, so I should really be getting ready for that tomorrow, but…"
She smiled, kissing his cheek, as she smacked his butt, "I'll be at your hotel later tonight, after the launch, Daniel. I expect you to be ready and waiting for me.
I think I feel a slight headache coming on from too much champagne. I should probably get some rest!"
As she turned to look at him he laughed, "Okay. I might just have what you need for that, Betty."
She walked back to him and put her hands on his chest, looking up at him, flirtateously, "Oh, you always have just what I need, Daniel!" He leaned down to kiss her again, and she whispered, "By the way, I love you, too, you know."
He smirked, "I know, Betty. You're not the kind of girl to go jumping a guy in a closet just for kicks if you weren't in love with me, right?"
She blushed, "Right. There's a first time for everything."
He smiled at her,"Well, we have a lot of time for other fun 'firsts', don't we?"
She nodded, "Uh huh. So...I should probably go...go back out there. I'll get your jacket back, you know."
He held her closely just looking down into her eyes, and smiled, "Sure, whenever. No problem, Betty."
He held one arm around her waist and touched her cheek with his other hand, kissing her gently, "You look so beautiful tonight. Have I told you that yet?"
She giggled slightly, "You mean, before you ripped my panties off and ravished me? Yeah, I think so. Thanks, Daniel."
He laughed, "Hey, you're the one who pulled me in there! I didn't hear any complaints!"
"You were too loud!"
"Oh, here we go, Miss bossy pants, telling me how I could have done things better. I mean, I know it was...quick, but you sort of took me off guard, molesting me like that."
"I hardly think I'd call it molesting you, Daniel. You're a big boy."
"Thanks." he grinned.
She rolled her eyes, "I was going to say, you could have said no."
"I don't think so. Whatever Bossy Betty wants, Bossy Betty gets. And you clearly wanted me!"
"So? Is there a problem with that? And don't call me that! My sister calls me that!"
"No, there's not a problem. I told you already I liked it. Feel free to do it again, anytime, anywhere you...feel the need for me. But, don't complain about me being loud."
"I'm not complaining. I'm just stating a fact. You were pretty loud."
"So what? There was a bunch of noise out here. Nobody heard us. Nobody had a clue what we were doing."
She gestured towards his coat, "Not until you went walking around with my panties hanging out of your jacket like a prize!"
He rolled his eyes, "I didn't do that on purpose, Betty! I was really embarrassed when Bobby told me that, too."
"Embarrassed for me, a little, maybe. But you probably high fived Bobby or something."
"I did not!"
"You're telling me you wouldn't have?"
He hesitated for a minute and she threw out her hands, "See?"
"What? So, I'm a guy! Betty, it's sort of what we do! I'm sorry! I'm not going to say I'm not happy about it. Do you want me to wear a scarlet letter or something?
I don't really care if people know we have sex, okay? Why should you? You did tell everyone I was your boyfriend.
Do you think they believe we're abstaining till we get married or something?"
"Of course not, don't be ridiculous."
"You're the one who's being ridiculous. Just because your sister and Christina were teasing you a little. Bobby's been giving me shit non-stop since he got here, but I don't care, really.
I just take it like a man because you're worth it. Knowing I 'got you', babe...makes all the teasing and crap from Bobby, from your sister, from DJ, from my mom, Alexis...and Christina all totally worth it. Because I love you. And knowing you loved me enough to...jump me because you couldn't resist me, makes me very happy. So...deal with it, bossy girl.
Now, shut up and go put your panties on, before I get some post its and piss Christina off by ripping that dress off you entirely and acting out my other little fantasy on you, sexy lady. Go! Get your knickers back on!" He slapped her behind as she rolled her eyes, blushing.
"Fine! I'm going! You don't have to be….so annoying, Daniel!"
"Shut up. You love it."
"Goofball."
"Klutz!"
"Sexy!"
"Super sexy!" He laughed, waving her away. Her heart continued to race as she made her way through the scores of well-wishers, stopping to smile and mumble a quick thanks for coming to several people on her way to the loo.
"The dress is quite fetching, but I'm not quite sure that jacket is exactly the right touch!" Brian stopped her just as she reached the line for the ladies.
Betty blushed, and started to take off Daniel's jacket, but as she did, her panties fell at Brian's feet. He raised his eyebrows, and grinned, picking them up with a pen and handing them to her, "Even in my wildest rock star fantasies, I don't believe I've ever had a woman literally throw their panties at me, Betty! I'm honored! Unless, of course, those are actually Daniel's.
In which case, don't worry, luv. Mum's the word. No one would ever know. He seems so butch for a puff. But, I guess working as an editor of a women's fashion magazine will do that eventually, eh?"
Betty grabbed her panties and shoved them furiously back into Daniel's coat pocket, "Those are NOT Daniel's, Brian! Look, I hate to say this, but Daniel doesn't really appreciate me emailing you. I think he's a little jealous. So, maybe it's best if we don't…"
He smirked, "We don't...what? Talk to one another? Fine, Betty. If Daniel is so insecure in his manhood that he can't take a little healthy competition, then I promise, I won't say a word to you from now on. I'll just nod and smile. Or am I allowed to smile at a beautiful woman such as yourself?
I suppose we could do hand signals. Is that allowed?" He clicked his heels together, and kissed her hand, then saluted as the line to the men's room moved, "Cheerio. Nature calls. Have fun, putting on what Daniel had much more fun taking off I'm sure, lucky sod! Goodnight, luv!"
Betty stood, completely flabbergasted at Brian's little flirtations. She shook her head and when the line finally moved inside, she went inside, taking care of business, then glancing in the mirror to make sure she looked more put together than she felt right now.
When the crowd started to dwindle, after the music, and food was gone, Betty hugged her family and headed to find Daniel, hoping to share a cab with him and give him his coat back, along with some making out on the ride home.
Bobby had to have the last word again, "Make sure you check the pockets on Daniel's coat before you get it back to him, Betty. You never know what guy's leave in there!"
She gave him a fake smile, for her father's benefit, and leaned to kiss him on the cheek, "Very funny, Bobby! You should talk after all the stuff you and Hilda used to do in high school, Mister hands all over the place!"
"So? I put a ring on it, didn't I?"
"Right."
"So, I'm just sayin...don't let Daniel's money and pretty boy looks fool you. Make sure he treats you right. Respects you. I think he's nuts about you, but...he'd better have good intentions."
Hilda smacked Bobby, overhearing his conversation, "Bobby! Stop taking that whole 'brother-in-law' thing so seriously! You know what kind of intentions Daniel has! Give the guy a break! He loves Betty."
"Thank you, Hilda. Wait, what are you talking about?"
"Nothing. We're talking about nothing, right, Hilda?"
"Right. Nothing. We don't know anything. There's nothing to know. Hope your 'headache' gets better, Betty. Goodnight! Maybe Daniel has some aspirin or something?"
"Right. Or something!" Bobby laughed, shaking his head.
Hilda smacked him again, and he made a face, "What? I'm just sayin! The guy probably has something to make Betty feel all better, right, chipmunk?"
"Shut up, Bobby!" Betty nodded, agreeing with her sister, and grateful for the support.
"Yes, and don't call me that! I'm not a chipmunk! I'm a woman!"
"That's for sure. That dress doesn't leave much to the imagination. You sure never dressed like that back in high school, chipm...I mean, Betty! You gotta be careful, though. I know I give the guy a hard time, but Daniel's a stand up guy. He's at least in it for the long haul. He knows you. Knows what a crazy chic you can be! And he still loves you. But I also saw quite a few other guys giving you the eye tonight, Betty. Just...don't go too crazy, okay? Make sure you take it easy."
Betty and Hilda both gave Bobby a look, "What? I can't give 'brotherly' advice to my sister-in-law? I've known the kid for years. I know what she's like when she's got a little crush. She's relentless. Hell, she had a crush on me for years, and didn't stop until she got her kiss, right, uh...Betty?"
Betty blushed, rolling her eyes, "What's your point, Bobby?"
"Nothing, Betty. I'm just saying...you're maybe not used to all this attention you're getting from guys, that's all. We men are all pretty much pigs. Daniel you can trust, I think. But the other guys...watch out."
Hilda smiled, "Aw...that's so sweet, Bobby. You're such a good guy!"
Bobby grinned, hugging Hilda, "Yeah, I am. Come here, sweetie. Why don't you show daddy here some lovin."
"Oh, please! I think I'm going to be sick! So, AB, do you have something actually fashionable to wear to Paris? Alexis Meade's wedding is going to definitely get some press! I know you've been doing much better since you became a London working girl, but…"
"Justin!" Everyone's eyes went up, "What?"
Betty smiled, leaning forward to her nephew, "Justin, honey, it's just...you know, 'working girl' has sort of a bad connotation. I know how you meant it."
"Whatevs! You old people are so weird sometimes! Anyway, Clark has been sending Marc and I links to his website, so I know how much better you've been doing, but I'm just deathly afraid of a relapse!
Those cute little pictures of you wearing your butterfly costume and having your poncho on the wall are great as a little conversation starter, but one major fashion faux pas now, in your position could mean disaster!"
"Justin, I think you're exaggerating, honey. My magazine isn't about fashion."
"Maybe not to the same degree as Mode, but it's about 're-invention', right? Do you want to pretend that doesn't include fashion to at least some degree? Fashion is a reflection of how we feel on the inside."
"Wait, what is Clark doing sending pictures of what I wear? He has a website? What, one like Marc's? My disasters?" Betty was clearly angry.
"No! No. It's about how much better you've been since you came here. It's called "The Reluctant Fashionista-Getting Betty-er all the Time!" It's huge back home. A lot of the Modees spread the word about it and you're a big hit, AB! You're a folk hero. Like Cinderella. How the former frumpy, fashion-challenged girl from Queens is making it big in London, living out her dream and dressing a little better, day by day!"
Betty looked at her family, "Did you all know about this?"
Hilda and Bobby nodded, looking somewhat guilty, "Well, yeah, sort of. It's cute, Betty. It's very complimentary. How you've really come into your own over here. It's really funny and smart. You'd like it. I mean...if it were about somebody else."
Betty shook her head, "I'm going to kill Clark! And then I'm going to send his chopped up body parts to Marc! And fly back to New York just to kill him, too!"
After she said goodnight to her family, Betty was still fuming about the website when she got to Daniel's hotel room.
So much so that she failed to notice Daniel was waiting for her on the bed, with chilled champagne and roses, wearing only a tie and a smile.
She walked past him and muttered, "Hey, Daniel. Do you believe what that stupid Clark and Marc are doing? They have some crazy continuation of his 'Daily Disasters' thing, since I got here!"
"Oh, you mean, the getting Betty-ier all the time? I love that!" He grinned, not sure why she was so furious, "What? it's cute! Don't tell me you didn't know about it, either?"
"NO! What, you have it bookmarked, too, I suppose? Daniel! Show me!" He got up and got his laptop and showed it to her.
She looked at the page for a moment, then looked over at Daniel and smiled, putting her hand to her face, "Uh...speaking of outfits….I really like yours, Daniel."
"You do? It took you long enough to notice it. I was waiting for twenty minutes in the town car for you to return my jacket, Betty."
She laughed, "Not dressed like that, I hope? You're lucky you didn't get arrested!"
"Ha ha, funny girl. No, of course not. Then I got your text that you were going to see your family back to their hotel first before you came here."
"I'm sorry, Daniel! I just felt bad that they are leaving in two days and I've been either working all day or...with you, so I haven't gotten to see them that much."
"No, it's fine, Betty. You should really slow down a little this next week. Take some time to spend with your family tomorrow and Wednesday before they leave, then...be ready for our long weekend."
"About that, Daniel…."
He looked at her, shaking his head, as he brushed back some stray strands of hair, and kissed her forehead, "You're not backing out on coming to Alexis' wedding Betty.
I'm not going to go through that again, am I? You're not showing up with Henry, telling me you drunk-dialed him or something. Because he's NOT invited to my sister's wedding!"
She giggled, "No, silly. It's not that. I'm coming. It's just...well, when I was waiting for the bathroom earlier to uh...you know fix myself up, Brian was there, waiting for the men's room."
"Really? What did he say? Did he hit on you outside the bathroom? That's disgusting! What a perv!"
She rolled her eyes, "Well, we did have sex in a kitchen pantry ourselves, Daniel. But, it's not just that, I told him I didn't think you liked him emailing me. And he was...well, sort of…"
"He did come onto you, didn't he? That jackass! Where does he get off, hitting on my girlfriend at your launch!
He thinks just because he's Valerie's father, he can use that to mess with you? I'm going to tell Alexis to un-invite him!"
"Daniel, no, you can't do that! He's his ex wife's plus one. Valerie's mom is a friend of Alexis', right? I don't want to mess things up for her. I just thought it was strange, that's all. I know he knows a lot of people here in London. He's got some pretty decent connections.
Let's keep things civil, okay? Don't act so...jealous all the time. You're a little overprotective sometimes, you know. It's adorable, but…"
"But, what?"
"Well, I mean, look what happened at Wicked! I never will get to see that on Broadway. And the thing with firing Gio just because I asked him for more sun dried tomatoes?
And Matt at the UN! Just...don't punch Brian, okay?"
He shrugged, "Okay, fine. I'll try to be on my best behavior. But he'd better keep his hands to himself. You uh...really think I'm adorable, Betty?"
She smiled, checking him out, "Oh yeah! I'm sure we broke a speed record in the pantry. Let's see if we can go the other way the rest of the night. Take our time.
I...like the tie, Daniel. It really makes your uh...package pop!" She untied it and raised her eyebrows, flexing it, "Where could I put it, I wonder?"
She chased him to the bed, "Betty! Be nice!"
"Nice? But I thought you liked me to be bad girl Betty?"